Potential buyer for m11x HELPP!!

Hey guys looking for a laptop to replace my aging studio 1535,

Looking into alienware m11x.
What is the main difference between r1 and r2? If so what are the processor specs and is there much of a difference gaming wise with those revison 1 and revision 2.
What are the major pro and con of this notebook?
From my researching it seems to run every game on high-med give or take, is this true?
Im looking into buying a certified refurbished from dell? is it worth it? (It seems to cut costs)

 

the r1 has a core 2 duo, the r2 has a core I series. and there really isnt much performance difference as long as your gaming. and the r1 gets better battery life. i LOVE my r1, and i run every game i have with no problem. always smooth. the r2's may have optimus but sometimes is a little buggy. i prefer the manual graphics switching.

 

Im still confused with the processors. It says 1.26 ghz or so, how does that compare with my 2.0 dual core processor t5800

 

The R1 has C2Duo cpus, the R2 has i3(?), i5 and i7. On the R1, with either c2duo SU4300(?) and SU7300, the cpu is the bottleneck. Games like SC2 and other cpu heavy games will not run on full graphic's, and may strutter from time to time. But it is no biggie, SC2 is still fully playable. The battery on the R1 is better at about 6-7hours. Also, you do not have the optimus choice, meaning you have to manually choose between graphics cards. When changing you might have to close a few programs like Outlook, MSN and webbrowsers, this can be a bit annoying. The R1 also have more of a "metal" fell, while the R2 (At least the Stealth Black) is more rubber like, in a good way.

The i5 and i7's are faster than the ones you get in the R1, and you can also overclock them more. Sevreral I7's run at about 3ghz with OCing, while the c2d SU7300 (in the R1) Run at max 1.7 with bios OC.

They also have optimus that changes graphics automatic without having to close programs. However the battery life is not as good on the R2's. i5 being a bit better than i7 on this due to clockspeed.

Generaly the m11x has suffered from hinge problems, but this has as far as I know been fixed. I got my R1 fixed the day after i reported it, and it has been ok since.

If you are going to buy now, I would recommend the R2 I7, then you got a good system for all new games!

 

You can OC the CPU (i7) to over 2.2Ghz, even more with something called throttlestop(?)(3GHZ)

The i series CPU's are also more efficant than the C2D's.

 

Besides being able to play CPU dependent games where the R1 gets slaughtered in, such as Bad Company 2, there really isn't much performance difference as long your gaming.

The R2 has Turboboost so it runs faster then stock. With Throttlestop the multipliers are really 12x for the i5 (1.6Ghz) and 14x for the i7 (1.86Ghz) and this makes faster then the T5800, at least in benchmarks thanks to the improved architecture.

 

Im looking not too spend 700 or more on it and is it reccomanded to get a refurbished machine..
ty for that detail description.
And if i end up getting a laptop with the suv processors later on down the road can i upgrade it to the i5 or i7 or its a different chip set.

thank you reps in teh morning

 

No upgrade possible on CPU's. They are stuck on your motherboard.

 

This is were i had trouble picking what m11x i wanted, I wanted the best battery life i can get which i was 100% going too get the r1, Than i was thinking and i play games like bfbc2 and games like it that is very hard on the cpu which i herd the r2 gets like 10fps more in games like that which does make a difference in them, So i decided too get a pretty much loaded r2 from outlet for i pretty good price 819shipped which is in my sig and im really happy with its performance

And the battery life isn't bad as i thought it would which is 4 too 5hours which i might could get higher if my discharge rate wasn't high which is 15 too 16mw, Going too reinstall windows fresh and see if i could get higher battery life.

But you cant go wrong with either one which is great machines! Just depends on what you going too do on them. The r2 will be a bit more future proofing because as games get more cpu dependent the r1 will struggle a bit and the same with r2 but it will handle them better.

 

Here is a review that compares the R1 to the R2

Alienware M11x R2 Review - Direct Comparions R1 vs R2

 

The review linked above is a great resource to get aquainted with a baseline for both revisions. Bare in mind they don't use throttlestop with the r2. Imo, throttlestop is mandatory for squeezing out optimum performance for the r2.

If the op isn't familiar with throttlestop I would urge him/her to read up on the stickied thread here.

That said, both revisions are great!

Edit: re: refurbs

The refurbs are great! They come with the same warranty as new units. If you receive a unit that's not up to snuff you can have it repaired or replaced.

 

not a great review.. there running the r1 at 1.3ghz. when we all know everyone runs theres at 1.6.

oh and if you have any soldering experience or just know computer hardware in general you can get that core2duo up to 2ghz.

 

Pinmod violate your warranty and it's delicate job for even an experienced tinkerer.

 

iv just finished my pinmod and im only 17 lol. and thats true, but if your a fix-it-yourself kindof guy like me, then warranty's dont matter. but most people arnt.

 

Pick up an r1 under $650 and the best bang for your money. Adding another upwards of $300-600 for the i5/i7 isn't worth it nowadays and you would be a sucker if you did since r3 might be soon and you could hold on to your money until it comes out. However, if you can pick up an i5 refurb for $700-750 then I believe that's a good deal.

 

the R2 is faster in some ways and in others its not much different. if you plan on playing cpu demanding games then get the R2, if battery life is more imporant get the R1.

for the best of both worlds pin mod a R1

 

IM looking for the most bang for my buck..

Anybody experienced with certified refurbished dell systems?

 

my lil bro has a refurb R2. it cames in perfect condition and hes had no issues with it.

 

Forgot too say about this in my last post but.

I bought my r2 refurb and it did have some problems like one of the screws was really stripped on the front right bottom side which was really loose, So today i took the bottom off and took that screw off and replaced it with a screw i had around which fit perfect, I was worrying that the threads on the laptop case was stripped but it was fine.

Oh and there's some scratch's on the lid but i don't really care about that but i was suppose too get the soft touch lid but got the normal gloss one.. The laptop it self is soft touch tho, Going too contact dell about it and see if they could send a lid or knock some money off.

Other than those everything else is perfect and i would do it it over again sense i got a good price on mine.


I do wish it had the r1 battery life which is 6+ hours, But i do like the performance im getting from this which is like mostly 40s and 50s fps on bbc2 and that's on mem too high settings with 1366x768, And i even tried it on my 28in 1920x1200 lcd and on mem settings i was still getting around that but it did dropped down in the mid 20s but still was more than playable Which beats my g50vt in sig on that game.. lol

 

Which system is better? the alienware or

Processor: AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile Processors P920(1.6 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Inspiron M501R
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD550v, 64-Bit, DDR3

im undecided

 

According to this The nvidia 335m GPU which is in the M11x is substantially better than the Radeon HD550v.

I don't know what resolution the Inspiron M501R has but anything higher than 1366x768 won't work well (well=all settings high) with games on the Radeon HD550v.

The processor of the M501R is little better though (look here) if you need more processing power

 

Im 90 percent decided on the m11x. CANT AFFORD A NEW ONE so i will be going with a like new or refurb? Any expierences with that and any good coupon codes for dell outlet, thank you

 

I used this one for mine which took 100$ off mine

D19CRN0H9HLJF9

Not sure if it still works sense it doesn't have any expiring date